Thursday, May 26, 2011

Midtown - Looking East From My Block

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Unused TimeOut NY cover

I was asked to create a cover alongside several other illustrators for TimeOut NY's Date Issue which features 100 single New Yorker profiles to be conceivably snatched up by someone in their readership. In the end they editors went in another direction but the initial idea was to convey "single in the city".

Being single in NYC can be tough. The city is chock full of good looking and interesting people who are either taken by someone else or unavailable for one reason or another. I immediately acquainted this to trying to hail a cab in Manhattan which, other than time shared with a quality partner, is just what a New Yorker wants to find on a bustling Friday night.

We've all been there: endlessly you see a taxi turn onto your street six blocks away and as it gets closer you see that it's either off duty or taken. Finally you see that one open taxi and as it gets within hailing distance somebody else snatches it up.

So that's what I saw this date issue as - your lucky night. One of those random pink taxi cabs that you see around town looking available and inviting (with a prospective date inside) as other prospective but unavailable cabs blow by. For the ad space on the cab roof I put a placard flush with roses - the standard flower for date night. The light atop the cab, unlike the others, flashes available.

A nice idea that maybe was a little too subtle for the cover. Oh well, I'll get them next time.

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Wednesday, May 25, 2011

New Illustration For ESPN Magazine

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ESPN's Kenny Mayne interviews 6 oft-penalized professional athletes. Thanks to Lou Vega for another sweet gig!

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Thursday, May 19, 2011

New Illustration For Spin

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I was psyched when Devin from Spin buzzed me to do an illustration for the Reviews section. Spin was a favorite of mine as a teen and after sending Devin my stuff for the past couple of years I finally got a call from him. The album to be featured was Toronto's hard-core show-stoppers Fucked Up's new album "David Comes To Life". This band is nuts live and it was agreed that the illustration should feature them in the frantic environment of the stage.

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Initially, I wanted the lead singer/savage Damian to be clutching his baby like I had seen in so many pictures but that got shot down. Also the raging expressions didn't really match up with the bands love vibe so I had to cheer their mugs up a bit.

The turnaround was pretty quick but Devin, as expected was fantastic with his direction.

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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Friday, May 13, 2011

The best of the worst!

One from the archives - Kiss Alive, Almost 65.

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Monday, May 2, 2011

The light in Rieti

How seldom I do full-on paintings nowadays. But when I do it sure feels good.

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After Osama Bin Laden...

After reading Nicholas D. Kristof's illustration-less Times op-ed, I decided to give it one.

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